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People who survive COVID-19 may not be able to enlist in the military.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the Defense Department has begun barring the enlistment of would-be military recruits who have been hospitalized for the coronavirus, unless they get a special medical waiver.
Under a Pentagon memo signed Wednesday, applicants who have tested positive for the virus but did not require hospitalization will be allowed to enlist, as long as all health and other requirements are met.
Those recruits who tested positive won’t be allowed to begin the enlistment process until 28 days after the diagnosis, and they’ll be required to submit all medical documentation. They’ll be cleared for military service 28 days after they’re finished with home isolation, and they won’t need a waiver.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the guidelines, which say that people who were hospitalized may have longer-term physical limitations. Those people would be considered “permanently disqualified” but could then be allowed to request a waiver from the military service they want to enter.
Local veterans react
This is a fluid situation, as the recruiting ban has not been approved, but it could be within the next couple of weeks.
Local veterans, however, are standing by The Pentagon, because it is about the decision made to protect the country.
"My standpoint, as a veteran, as someone who has served in combat, The Pentagon is making the right decision here," said Colin Day. "At the end of the day, the military is to defend the country. We are not overly concerned with people’s feelings. We need to be force ready.”
Day served as a Combat Engineer in Iraq, and from experience, he says it is of the utmost importance to have the best health, but he understands this could strip recruits of their dream to serve.
"It is unfortunate, because there are qualified people who may end up banned from military services and would have been a good resource, but at the end of the day, you have to look at the military as a whole," said Day.
The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.